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News Release
Release #02.076
August 30, 2002
Midwest Express Pilots Encourage Swift Settlement of Flight Attendants' Contract
MILWAUKEE --- The union representing pilots at Midwest Express Airlines is urging the airline's management and flight attendants to quickly settle their differences in contract negotiations that failed to yield an agreement before the National Mediation Board's deadline of 12:01 a.m. EST today.
"After more than two years of negotiations, it is unfortunate that management and the flight attendants have not been able to resolve their differences at the bargaining table," said Captain Jay Schnedorf, chairman of the Midwest Express Airlines pilots’ unit of the Air Line Pilots Association, International (ALPA). "We fully support the flight attendants’ rights to negotiate a fair contract and encourage both parties to return to the table to accomplish this goal regardless of what actions the flight attendants or management take to exert leverage on each other outside the negotiating room" he said.
"Until an agreement can be achieved with the flight attendants, it is clear that Midwest Express will not be able to devote its full resources to serving our passengers and recovering from the devastation the airline industry has endured for the last year," Schnedorf added.
Midwest Express is a nationwide carrier with a fleet of DC-9 and MD-80 aircraft based out of Milwaukee’s Mitchell International Airport in Milwaukee, WI.
ALPA is the world’s oldest and largest pilot union, representing 66,000 members at 43 airlines in the U.S. and Canada, including approximately 400 pilots at Midwest Express. Visit the ALPA website at http://www.alpa.org.
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ALPA CONTACT: Ron Lovas, 703-481-4440